Ensley was financial expert at USAA

Published 12:01 am, Saturday, April 5, 2014

George H. Ensley spent 21 years in the Army before being hired at USAA in 1969.

George H. Ensley spent 21 years in the Army before being hired at USAA in 1969.

Ensley was financial expert at USAA

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George H. Ensley, who over a span of 30 years helped implement many of the financial services today offered by USAA, died March 26 of natural causes. He was 86.

Ensley, who held a master's degree in business administration from Stanford University, was hired at USAA in 1969 as the company's vice president and treasurer.

“(Brig. Gen. Robert F.) McDermott relied on him heavily,” said former USAA colleague Harry Miller. “McDermott was a great visionary, and George was the financial guy; they made a great team.”

Before USAA, Ensley had a 21-year career in the Army, serving briefly during World War II before attending the University of California, Berkeley, to earn his accounting degree.

After graduation Ensley re-enlisted, accepting a commission into the finance corps.

“Dad grew up during the Depression,” his youngest son, Doug Ensley, said. “He told me that people in the military came through the Depression pretty OK. He was drawn by the security the military offered.” What Ensley didn't anticipate was the Korean War.

“Two days before he reported to Fort Lewis, the unit he was assigned to was called to Korea as part of the 77th Tank Battalion,” Doug Ensley said. “Two weeks later, he was on the front lines with zero training,” commanding a battalion.

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“He was involved in action all the way up the north border of Korea,” his son, Ross Ensley, said. “It was a pretty gruesome fight.” Ensley was injured when his tank was hit and received a Purple Heart in addition to a Silver Star.

After Korea, Ensley attended Stanford and eventually served as budget officer for the deputy chief of staff of personnel in the Pentagon.

When he retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1969, Ensley received an array of job offers, including the one from McDermott, which he first turned down, preferring to return to his native California.

He was about to accept an offer in San Francisco when he noticed the traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. It was enough to persuade him to reconsider San Antonio.

“While George was there, he understood the deep technicalities of accounting, and the deep technicalities of the investment business,” said Michael J.C. Roth, who worked with Ensley at USAA for many years. “I always considered him to be a rare senior manager in that he had total authority over so much of the company and yet he was a guy who listened ... had no hidden agendas. Under him the investment company and USAA did very well.”